


Until the Stars Crumble

by AlyssAlenko



Series: Shakarian Adventures [7]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff, Gift Fic, Goodbyes, Grief/Mourning, Love, Mental Anguish, Post-War, Sex, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-09-29 02:50:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17195096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyssAlenko/pseuds/AlyssAlenko
Summary: Okay, I'd like to apologize in advance for this, but I hope the end justifies the means...It's hard to move on when the love of your life dies, especially when you have a virtual recording of their last goodbye.





	Until the Stars Crumble

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Briarfox13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Briarfox13/gifts).



> The idea for this actually came from my friend VampireCupcake017 ages and ages ago but I won't tag her seeing as my smut makes her uncomfortable XD
> 
> Render by the Amazing Naromoreau!

“Make sure you practice. We'll review tomorrow. Dismissed.”

The room emptied out one by one, leaving him alone with his thoughts, sighing sadly and collapsing behind his desk into his chair. He'd never pictured himself as a teacher, but his students were amazing and took to the gun and tech training all too well—he'd liked running a squad, teaching them how to work together so this was the next logical step. He had Shepard to thank for that, getting him to think outside the box...but he'd never get the chance to tell her; it had been two years since the end of the Reaper war and he was still hurting. One didn't just ‘get over’ the love of their lives. A soft ping chimed, and suddenly standing in front of him was Saskia in all her glory, the timer on the Shepard VI she’d bought three years ago from Mouse and reprogrammed kicking in at just the right moment—it didn't ease the hurt in his heart, but it was the only way he could see her again. She smiled at him, one of the rare ones she reserved only for him, and Garrus unfolded himself from his chair to stand next to her, drawing a talon down a pixelated cheek, wishing for what wasn't the first time that he could touch the real thing.

“Something I can do for you, G?” The VI asked, her voice Saskia's except for the slight mechanical resonance after every sentence.

“Could you play Saskia's goodbye again?” He muttered running his talons over his crest, cowl slumping in defeat as his blue eyes filled with tears, just watching the pixelated figure of his love.

The VI nodded, stance changing, face softening as the recorded audio began. “ _Hey Big Guy, I hate to say it, but we both had an inkling one or both of us wouldn't make it out of this, and if you're listening to this, I didn't. And now I guess we'll never find out what a human-turian baby looks like or get to adopt a few bouncing baby krogan...I'm sorry. You're sleeping right now, but there were some things I had to say, and wouldn't be able to get out if I knew you were listening. I know I tell you alot, but first I need you to know how much I love you_ — _how I will always love you long after I'm gone. I will love you until the stars crumble and with my dying breath. I love you so much it hurts sometimes, but just knowing you feel the same makes all of this worth it. Second, I need you to be strong, to endure, okay? I need you to go on. There's a lot of bad in the galaxy and I can only trust my boyfriend, Archangel, all-around turian badass to deal with it, can't I?”_ Garrus chuckled sadly. _“And finally, third, I will be waiting for you_ — _but I don't want to see you before your time, you hear me? I didn't_ — _”_

“Pause recording.” He choked; hadn't thought it would be this hard to hear it again. “I can’t—I didn't—”

“— _do all this so you could quit. I hate that I left you in the lurch, and I hope time has been able to heal some of the hurt. See you beyond the galaxy, Big Guy, and remember, no matter what, I love and adore you_.”

He gaped at the VI. He thought he'd stopped the recording...but then again, her mouth wasn't moving...had she glitched for the first time in two years during playback? Panic settled in his stomach—the reprogrammed Shepard VI was all he had left and if something happened to it he wasn't entirely sure what he would do. She'd worked so hard to make the thing sound more human, more like her, even going as far as making the VI call him ‘G’, ‘Gar’, and ‘Big Guy’ to maintain the illusion, and if he closed his eyes he could _almost_ pretend she was back with him. Her upgrades bordered on AI territory, to make the VI respond to its surroundings and being spoken to, able to formulate responses to most questions—the circuits still crossed sometimes when asked a question Shepard couldn't have predicted. He chortled, remembering the day she'd let the hologram conference call with the council while he took her to bed and made her scream his name, multiple times. His arm glowed orange as he brought up his omnitool, immediately running a diagnostic and finding nothing out of the ordinary, and then he smelled her signature perfume, hearing the melodic laughter from the opposite direction of the VI...at the doorway of his classroom.

“Looks like someone missed me.”

He whirled around, heart in his throat as he saw her, standing there in all her glory, wearing her signature black n7 hoodie, blue jeans and a pair of flat thigh high black boots—she sported a couple of new scars around her collar bone, but he didn't care.

“Saskia?” Garrus managed.

“This is the part where you grab the girl and kiss her like you mean it, Big Guy.”

“That I can do.” He rasped.

He was across the room in three strides, taking her in his arms, bringing his mouth down to hers—she was real...she was _here_ . One arm wrapped around his neck, Garrus grabbing her waist and hauling her against him, hard, dipping her over backwards, her body pressed against every inch of his and making his mandibles flick out. She felt just like he remembered, and it set his heart beating fiercely in his chest, pounding against his carapace like it was trying to escape. He'd asked her to come back alive, unwilling to face the thought of a galaxy without her, and she had...showing up on Palaven after another two years without a word. Garrus pulled back suddenly, brow plates drawn together in confusion, mind reeling, wondering why no one had said a thing. Saskia drew a gentle hand down his cheek, feeling the almost faded scars from the rocket on Omega, scars that had driven her wild—that _still_ drove her wild, even after all this time. Even if he wanted answers, he couldn't help leaning into her touch, cradling her hand against his cheek, pressing his mouth to her palm. They'd been apart far too long, and his traitorous heart and body gave him away.

“Several times, after they pulled me out of the wreckage of the Citadel, I almost didn't make it.” She answered the unasked question hanging in the air and lurking behind his eyes. “They didn't want to give you false hope only to take it away...I couldn't do that to you. Then they brought in Miranda, and here I am. As soon as I was fully recovered, I hopped on the first shuttle bound for Palaven.”

“I would've come to you...I’d cross the galaxy for you.”

“You've got a good thing here. They told me what you were doing, and I didn't want to uproot you. And I'm here now, so what do you intend to do with me?” The flirty undertones of her voice had him reaching behind her to shut the door, grinning.

He wanted to make the most of every precious moment.

Garrus picked her up, draping her legs about his hips and carrying her over to his desk, sliding datapads out of the way, setting her on top of it, gentle talons teasing her leg from the hem of her sweatshirt to her knee, before travelling back up and curling over her hip, yanking her closer to him, making her teeter on the edge of the desk precariously. Saskia groaned and hooked a leg around his hips; this was exactly what he wanted—what he needed; he needed her this close after so long apart. The papers would still be there in the morning, but for this moment, Garrus wanted her close, her skin against his plates as he made her see stars, proved to himself that she was really here and this wasn't some fever dream his subconscious had cooked up. He pulled back for a second his brain finally catching up with his body, resting his forehead against hers, inhaling her familiar scent—he didn't want to hurt her, even if the scent of her arousal was driving him mad.

“Are you able to—”

“Yes. God yes. Take me.” She panted, kissing him again. “Right here, right now...no more waiting.”

Garrus sunk to the floor in front of her, unzipping her black boots from thigh to ankle, a gentle hand on her knee as he worked them off, pressing his mouth to the fabric at her ankle, her calf, her knee. He stood, mandibles flicking outwards, as his eager hands worked her hoodie up off her body, fingers tracing across her breasts and stomach muscles. His paperwork lay forgotten as he kissed her, his mouth crashing against hers. She gasped in delight, grabbing the waistband of his pants and hauling him closer, holding on for dear life as he went for the button and zipper of her jeans, unbuttoning them and hooking his fingers into the waistband of her pants and underwear, peeling them off her hips and down her legs to pool on the floor. His clothes joined hers shortly after. Slipping his tongue between her parted lips with skill and the confidence that he could rock her world, had her straining to catch her breath. As his tongue teased hers in a circle, one hand wound into her silken hair, groaning in approval that she’d left it loose, just waiting for him to run his talons through it. Threading his long fingers through her hair, he tugged it roughly as he grasped the back of her head to control the kiss, drawing a gasp of approval from between her red lips. Saskia seemed to be enjoying every second.

His waist plates relaxed and shifted, sudden arousal running all the way through his body, erection springing forth from the sheath housing it. Breathing hard, his mouth found her neck, biting down hard, but not hard enough to draw blood, marking her as his own, his mate, his love. He plastered her hands to the desk as he stepped forward, standing between her legs and widening the ‘V’ of her thighs with his own, fitting himself at her slick entrance. He slid her hands backwards on the desk making her arch towards him and the way it stretched her and sent him deeper caused her to gasp before rocking his hips into hers. Hers eyes glazed over in pleasure as she locked her ankles behind him, drawing him deeper inside, her fingers curling under his hands against the top of the desk. She squirmed under his attentions, every inch of her skin was tight, hot, and prickling with unreleased sexual tension. Her heat surrounded him, and he shuddered claiming her lips again as he thrust into her, hard. He slammed into her, the little minx enjoying herself, his mouth on hers, one hand cupping her naked breast, talons yanking the hair at her scalp roughly as he took her hard, deep, and fast. Her nails dug into his carapace, scraping down his back and drawing a hiss from her turian lover, core clenching around his shaft, stretching to accommodate his pace.

“Saskia…” He moaned against her lips, wondering how he'd gone so long without her or this.

“Garrus…” She breathed, his name a plea on her lips.

Fire surged through him as his hips pushed forward, the ridge of his erection grazing her clit, his cock pulsing as her walls clamped down around his shaft. He wasn't going to last. He groaned into her mouth, long tongue tangling with hers, blood simmering at a low boil. He pressed into her again, thrusting hard and fast as he caught her clit between finger and thumb, rolling it in time with his thrusts, a wave of ecstasy plowing through both their bodies. Saskia let out a contented sigh, eyebrows furrowed in pleasure, arching her back and chanting her hips towards him as Garrus thrust forward once. Twice. Her muscles contracted, body going rigid as she jerked and shivered, her orgasm racking her body with tremors. He took a moment to catch his breath, gazing down at her flushed skin, his own body spasming with his own release a moment later. She drew her hand down his jaw, kissing him softly as she rolled her hips where they were still attached, the warmth he felt stroking his shaft was liable to send him head first over the edge for the second time.

“Don't think one round of mind-blowing sex can make up for the fact that I thought you were dead for two years.” He pointed an accusatory finger at her.

Saskia's hand flew to her heart, scandalized. “Of course not! I was thinking at least three.”

His mandibles flicked out in amusement, failing to contain a chuckle. “You drive a hard bargain.”

As he leaned in for another kiss, she stopped him with a finger against his mouth, giggling as his velvety soft tongue snaked out to lick it. “I may be hot for teacher, but do me a favor and turn off the Shepard VI.”


End file.
